Complications
by suicide-by-cookie
Summary: He loves her, she loves him– but a third party complicates everything. And suddenly, everything isn't quite so simple anymore. (Rated T for language and sexual themes.)
1. Issues and Bitches

"...And I can't think of a better time to ask this of the woman I most love." Touko's boyfriend Natural Harmonia, more commonly called N, finished.

She gasped. Was this what she thought it was? "Touko White, will you marry me?" N asked, getting down on one knee, and pulling out a ring.

"Yes, N!" Touko exclaimed, bursting into tears.

But through all her tears, Touko could not see the silent, glowering figure of her best friend Cheren sulking in the corner...

Chapter 1: Shauntal (Issues and bitches)

Hi. I'm Shauntal Shikimi. I'm a member of the Elite four. I bet you've heard about us, but don't know that much about our lives. Well, there's a lot of clowning around since we don't get many challengers, but then there are my four companions. There's Marshal, probably my best friend. There's eighteen-year-old bitchy Caitlin who will probably be a hooker as a second job, Alder the champion, a man with a temper at fiery as his red hair, and Grimsley. I guess, to be fair, I've been in love with him for, like ever. He has dark black-blue hair, and light, clear blue eyes. Unfortunately, he's dating Caitlin, and I can hear them in bed together every night. I still don't get why he dates someone three years younger than him though. So what if she has waist long blond hair, and deep blue eyes? So what if she's stick thin, and could be a super-model? Okay, maybe I'm a little jealous. I mean, there's her, and then there's me. I have to say that I really don't think I amount to much. I have short purple hair that is cut into a bob at my chin, large dark purple eyes that I cover with dorky Harry-Potter style glasses, and am rather short. I guess I can see why he dates her, but she's a complete bitch. Well, sorry about my ranting, I should probably just start the story now.

I am in my room, working on my newest romance novel, my being a major bookworm and all, when the tall, model-like figure of Caitlin bursts open my door.

She calls panting, "There was a challenger, but don't worry. We defeated him before he could get here. Funny how you claim you're the strongest, but you don't actually do any work. Well, I gotta go now. Can't be late for my date with Grimsley. Toodles! Oh, and Shauntal, if you ever want, I have an old one that I out grew, but it would probably fit you if you want it."

"What are you offering me?" I inquire suspiciously.

"A push-up bra. You know, Shauntal, you really could be pretty if you put some effort into it." she says before continuing, "And I really would appreciate if you and Marshal would close the place up early and stay out of Grimsley's room tonight. We're going to be... watching a movie."

"You're not fooling anyone. We can all hear you two. And I would be carful about how much time you spend in bed with him." I tell her, with a big fake smile.

Her eyes narrow, and she hisses, "Are you calling me a slut?"

"Well, you're not exactly frigid if you know what I mean." I retaliate.

"And you're still a virgin at twenty-one. Wonder how that happened?" Caitlin simpers, just as obnoxious as ever.

"'Least I don't have a reputation." I say in a sing-songy voice.

"Well, I've gotta go, and by the way, you don't do a good job of hiding the fact that you're in love with _my_ boyfriend. You act like a love sick school girl." say barks before dashing out.

I grimace at the spot she used to stand, and muttered under my breath, "And stay out."

Bitch.

She thinks she's so great just because she's dating a dashing, dark haired, charming gentle man? Okay. Maybe I do have issues.


	2. Beginning of the End

Chapter 2: Touko (Beginning of the End)

I am seated at a small, cramped table with my four best friends and a birthday cake. Well, if we're going to get real here, one lover, a brother, a girlfriend, and a soon to be enemy, but that's not important now. What _is _important is the fact that we are in the process of celebrating my twenty-first birthday.

"Happy birthday to you." My chorus of friends conclude as I blow out the candles on my white cake.

I blow them out all in one gust, a good omen for the year to come. Oh, how wrong I would be. I slice the cake neatly, and pass it out to my friends. I hand a piece to my fiancee, N, and he smiles, then kisses me on the lips, earning a disapproving glare from my jealous friend Cheren. Touya, my brother jabs him with his elbow, and Cheren grimace-smiles. I love Touya. He is always joking around with me, but he can be too over-protective sometimes. My train of thought is interrupted by a rude comment from Touya.

"Well? You're twenty-one now, Touko. Are we going to open a bottle of wine and get wasted or what?" He jokes.

"Touya! Not funny." I whine.

I've been twenty-one for two hours. I am _not_ getting wasted within the first day of my newfound adult-hood. N comes to my rescue telling Touya,

"Touya, I think that was taking it a bit too far."

"Oops. Sorry." Touya half-heartedly apologizes.

"It's fine." I say, forgiving him, knowing Touya always means well.

"Oh, and Touko, I'd like to go somewhere...alone." N says as he winks at me.

"Ooh!" Devil-may-care Bianca goads me.

"Sure." I reply, remembering the last time we were "alone" together.

That had been three nights ago, and I had left my virginity with the bed we slept in together. I sigh, remembering the moment, and Cheren clears his throat loudly.

"Well, that's just peachy, but you two can go traipse around all you want _later_. Right now, we have a party to finish." He grunts.

I go into the back room to get more napkins, ad Cheren follows me.

"Happy birthday, Touko." He tells me before holding me in place, and kissing me on the lips.

He leaves, and I drop the napkins on the floor as I grab the bar of soap I use to do the dishes. I stick it inside me mouth in a frantic attempt to sterilize my mouth. N notices my absence, and comes to look for me. When he finds me scrubbing the inside of my mouth with a dish brush, he runs over to me in alarm.

"Touko, what happened?" He cries.

"Chewern kwifst meh!" I attempt to speak through a mouthful of dish soap.

"I'm sorry love, could you repeat that?" N asks kindly.

I spit out a massive amount of dish soap into the sink before gagging, and speaking again.

"Cheren kissed me!" I yell.

N sighs and smacks a fist into his palm.

"I need to have a word with that boy. He's taken it too far this time. I knew that he was never happy about us wanting to get married and going all the way, but this behavior has got to stop!" N moans. "Cheren!"

I watch as N storms out of the room, thinking that he would fix everything. Oh, how wrong I was going to be. That kiss Cheren forced on me was just the beginning of the end.


	3. The Dare

Chapter 3: Shauntal (The Dare)

Grimsley, Caitlin, and Marshal were all sitting around a table, playing a game of 'truth or dare' from which they had rudely excluded Shauntal.

"Okay, your turn Grimsley. Truth or Dare?" Caitlin asks, wiggling her eyebrows.

Grimsley laughs, making her smile, and coyly answers, "Dare."

"Ooh. Give me a second." Caitlin says, pondering her opportunity.

She didn't want to go too easy on her boyfriend, but she didn't want to scare him or anything. Caitlin pondered what she would do to Shauntal if she was here. Shauntal. Caitlin's eyes widen as she thinks of the idea.

"Okay, here's what you have to do." Caitlin whispers into Grimsley's ear.

. . .

"Are you sure?" Grimsley whines, regretting that he even picked dare in the first place.

"Yes, it's won't be that hard to get one of her books. She'll give it to you. She's in looove with you Grimsley." Caitlin says, batting her eyelashes and giggling.

"Okay." Grimsley says, ruffling Caitlin's hair. "I'd do just about anything for you, sweetie."

But Grimsley couldn't help but feel bad about what he was going to do. Sure, he loved Caitlin and it was _obvious_ that Shauntal had a huge crush on him, but to steal one of her books, read it with the Elite Four, and then openly make fun of it with them at lunch? Wasn't that kind of wrong? Oh well. It was 'truth or dare' for Arceus sakes. He knocked on the door.

. . .

Shauntal:

I was so upset that Caitlin had excluded me from her little game of truth or dare _again._ This wan't the first time, or the second, or the third. It was the fucking fourth time! Now, when I get upset, I become what Touko jokingly calls an OCC, or Obsessive Compulsive Cleaner. As of currently, I had changed into my spandex neon-purple cleaning tights, dark purple booty-shorts, and my white cleaning tank-top. I had pulled my rug off the floor, and had hung it on a clothes line. I am whacking it with a rug beater, cleaning it of dust. I picture Caitlin's face on the rug, and beat it more savagely.

"Take that you little bitch!" I yell, beating the shit out of my carpet as I hear knock on my door.

"Door's open." I call, and return to the filthy carpet.

"Umm, sorry to disrupt you Shauntal, I can come back at a more convenient time for you if you wish." Grimsley's voice calls over my shoulder.

Wait, Grimsley's voice? I whirl around, and drop the carpet beater onto the floor, where it lands with a thud.

"Umm. G-Grimsley. Hi. Now's a great time, what'd you want?" I stammer.

He walks over to my book-case which I haven't gotten around to dusting yet, and plucks a novel off of it. One of my novels. The title is 'What You Can't Have'.

"I've been looking for new reading material. May I borrow this?" He inquires, shwoing me the novel.

Hmm, what happened in that one? It was a romance novel, and, Oh No! He can't borrow that one! Not with all the sex-scenes in there!

"Umm. S-sure, i-if you r-really wanna read it." I stutter out instead.

"Thank you I'm sure we- I'll enjoy it very much." Is his happy response. "I'll leave you to your cleaning now." He says, leaving the room.

I pick up the carpet beater, and ascend the ladder. I begin to shake out the remaining dust while thinking about Grimsley. He left one of Caitlin's famous games of 'truth or dare' just to borrow a novel from me! I feel myself swoon, and I try to grab onto my indigo carpet for support. It doesn't help, and I plunge five feet to my wooden floor with my carpet in hand. It falls on top of me, and I fight my way out from under its smothering area. Ow!


	4. How Bad Could it Be?

Chapter 4: Touko

Cheren invites me over to his house to apologize for kissing me, and to celebrate my twenty-first birthday properly.

"Are you sure you want to go?" N asks me for the millionth time.

"Well, he says he's sorry. I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt." I say sharply. "I'll be fine. What's the worst thing that could happen?"

"Well, okay. But you call me if anything goes wrong." N insists.

"Okay." I relent, rolling my eyes at him playfully. "I'm leaving now. I have my phone."

I leave my house, and dash across town to Cheren's house. I push open the door, and she Cheren reclining with a twelve-pack of beer.

"Hey. Sweet. You came. Let's have a drink to celebrate." He says.

"What? No, I am not drinking that now! I've been twenty-one for two hours, and you want me to get wasted?"

"Just a sip, Touko? You don't even have to finish the bottle." He begs.

"Fine." I consent as Cheren pops the top off of two bottles and hands one to me.

"To being twenty-one. Happy birthday Touko." He toasts me as we clink our bottles.

Cheren drains half of his in one sip, but I can barely touch mine. The beer is just so bitter I only drink a sip or two.

"Have some more, Touko. C'mon have a little fun for once." He whines.

"Cheren, it's two butter and I won't." I say solidly.

"Then I'll make you." He growls. Climbing on top of me.

Cheren, already probably drunk from the bottle of beer, climbs on my chest, and pins me down. He puts the bottle f beer to my lips, and tips it forwards pouring the liquor into my mouth. I try to spit it out, but it just keeps flowing, so I swallow. Then I end up having to swallow the next sip, and the net as well, or be choked. Eventually, I can feel the alcohol seeping into my blood, and I am unable to resist as Cheren, in a drunken fury, uncaps another bottle, and forces me to drink half of it as well. Once he decides that I am sufficiently drunk he hops off my chest and carries me into his bedroom. He plops me onto his bed, and starts to pull off my clothing.

"Cheren, no." I tell him, trying to push him off of me, "Chern no!" I say louder to no affect. "Cheren, why are you doing this?" I manage to say, coherently.

"Because you should be _my_ girl." He snarls before pushing me under the sheets.

. . .

I wake up an hour later, in a bed with Cheren, naked. What happened here? Then I remember, and reality hits me like a brick. Cheren wasn't sorry he just wanted to take advantage of me. I pull myself out of the bed, and almost collapse. Right. I'm still drunk. I manage to pull on my clothes shakily, and swear not to tell N about anything that happened here today. I look outside and see that it is still sunny. I snatch my purse, and exit the house of a sleeping Cheren. I totter back home, and shove open the door. I collapse on the floor immediately, and N, hearing me comes down.

"Arceus! Touko, what happened? You got drunk didn't you?"

"Cheren and I just had a little drink, N," I whisper, "I'm fine."

"Nonsense. What you need is to go to bed." N says, picking me up and carrying me up the steps leading to my bedroom.

"I couldn't agree with you more." I garble.

N lays me down on my bed, and whispers, "Goodnight."

He kisses me, and after he leaves, I break down and cry.


	5. Who's the Father?

Chapter 5: Touko (Who's the Father?)

It's been seven days since my ex-friend Cheren Blue raped me. I've done a very good job of pretending, and my life felt whole again until today. The worst scare of my life came in a tiny little innocent box.

I walk into the bathroom, and grab a hairbrush off the shelf. I run it through my hair, and without looking, I search through the cabinet for a hair tie. Instead, I latch onto a small box, and yank it out. Tampons. I hardly ever use those. I toss them aside and continue searching the cabinet when I freeze, and my eyes get as wide as saucers. I seize the box of tampons, and I dash into my room with them. I snatch my X-transceiver up and, not wanting to look, press the button that turns it on. Immediately, four notifications pop up. They read,

"First day of period!"

"Second day of period!"

"Third day of period!"

"Fourth day of period!"

I drop my tampons, and my X-transceiver. I shut my door, and the frantically pull down my pants. I check my under-ware, and there isn't a drop of blood in it. I pull up my pants, and scream. I've always been more regular than an almanac. This is going to mean a visit to Professor Juniper and her assistant Fennel in Nimbassa city. I throw the tampons into the bathroom as N climbs the stairs and bursts into my room.

"Touko, what happened?" He cries in alarm.

I compose myself and say, "Nothing, I just got a bit of a shock. I'm going to go to Nimbassa to visit an old friend. Okay?"

"Sure thing," N says, "Just be back soon."

"No promises." I tell him.

I hop on the back of my Rufflet, and zoom to Nimbassa.

. . .

I arrive at 'Professor Juniper's Hospital and Clinic' around one-thirty.

"I need to see Professor Juniper now." I bark at the receptionist.

"Mhmm." She says, squinting through her cat-eye glasses, "Do you have an appointment?"

"Well, no, but tell her it's Touko White." I explain.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but if you don't have an appointment, than I cannot call her." She squeaks in her high nasal voice

"Tell her it's Touko!" I growl.

"Ma'am if you'll please have a seat-" She begins, but is cut off by my lunge for the phone.

I snatch the phone off the desk, and begin to dial the Professor's X-transceiver number when the receptionist attempts to twist the phone away from me. I whack her over the head with my bag, and finish the number. The phone is answered on the first ring.

"Hello?" Professor Juniper answers cheerfully.

The receptionist grabs the phone and begins to speak into it.

"Hello Professor. This is Gladys. An insane young lady by the name of Touko White insists upon seeing you." The lady answers.

"Tell her that it's an emergency." I hiss.

"It's an emergency." Gladys finishes. "Uh-huh. I see. Very well." She hangs up. "Touko White, fifth floor."

I run to the elevator, and press the button for five a number of times, willing the elevator to move faster. It stops at five with a long 'ding' and the doors creak open. I sprint down the hallway to the Professor's office, and shove the door open.

"Professor... Juniper." I pant.

"Touko, what's wrong?" She asks, seeing the look on my face.

"I think I'm pregnant." I reply.

. . .

"I have your test results, Touko." Professor Juniper says gently.

"Do I want them?" I ask plaintively.

"The results are positive. Congratulations, Touko, you're pregnant. Now, who's the father so I can call him?" She beams.

"I don't know." I say before bursting into tears.

. . .

"And you won't say a word to my fiancee?" I beg.

"Not a word." Professor Juniper's assistant Fennel swears, crossing her heart as she leads me to a bed in an empty ward.

She leaves to get me some food and I whip out my X-transceiver and call N.

"Hey, honey. I'm kind-of sick, and Professor Juniper wants me to stay here for seven days. Kay? Love you. Bye." I say leaving a message.

I hang up my X-transceiver and think about how fucked up my life just became.


	6. I Insult my Best Friend

Chapter 6: Shauntal (I Insult My Best Friend)

Well, maybe I wasn't such a lunatic after all. It had been four days since I had lets Grimsley my book, and I hadn't even heard one sarcastic comment from him. That all changed today at lunch.

We were sitting at our overly large luncheon table, which if you ask me looked more like a banquet table, but that's besides the point. So, we were all sitting down, eating lunch in-front of the stain glass window, with me at the head of the table right next to it, and conversing about stupid things that did _not_ interest me. I began to doze off.

"Shauntal!" Marshal's voice jolted me back to reality.

"Oh, leave her alone, Marshal. She's probably working on a new book." Caitlin says, dismissing him.

Wow. I never expected someone like Caitlin to ever understand my love for books and the complications of writing one. This new empathy makes me feel like I'm floating in a happy bubble.

"That being said," Caitlin continues, "It would save lots of time if she just stuck all the characters into a bed already."

The bubble pops.

"Yeah, Shauntal, I never knew all this dirty stuff went in inside that pretty little head of yours. Are you feeling forever-alone, or what?" Grimsley says, slaughtering me and my book.

"Yeah, girl. When the best written parts of your book are sex scenes-" Marshal tentatively begins, but Caitlin finishes for him,

"You probably should see a therapist to talk out these issues. Really, writing about how alone you feel only solves so many problems. And your writing isn't even good."

"It's mediocre," Grimsley jabs.

I see Marshal looking uncomfortable with what is happening, but I can't take the slaughter of my book, and the malign of myself right now. I need to get out of here.

"Well, I think I'm done here." I say coldly, pushing my chair, and turning to leave.

Well, I'd like to say that I swept out of the room cold as a Vanillish, but in truth, my exit was much less graceful. Me being me, and me being a klutz, I turn to leave, but I slip on the white curtain at my feet, and tumble backwards onto the window frame. Stained glass, not being made to support human weight, was not able to catch one-hundred and ten pounds of me, so I fall through the window, watching the ripple effect of glass shattering as my body slams against it. I view the small rainbow colored shards floating around mt face, and feel a slash of pain in my forehead. I then fall through the empty frame of the window, watching the building I came from get smaller and smaller above me. I hurtle through a story of space and end my fall in Caitlin's tulip garden which does little to soften the impact. I hit my head rather hard on the dirt in the flower bed, and feel something in my head move. Everything gets fuzzy and blends together. I shut my eyes, and wish the static away. When I re-open my eyes, I only have a clear image of the white tulip in-front of me. There, on one of its petals, is a pearly drop of scarlet blood. I shut my eyes, and allow the cold current, lapping at my feet, to drag me under into a dark, black sea.

. . .

I feel dizzy and hear the squeak of wheels long before I open my eyes. When I do, I am lying in a hospital bed, and the hallway is flying around me. Why is the hallway moving? Doors, people, and long narrow corridors flash by me in streaks of brown, silver, and black.

"No, no! Make it stop!" I scream, shutting my eyes tightly, and muting my ears my the palms of my hands.

"Honey, what do you want me to stop?" A dark haired nurse asks gently and leans over my body with a name tag that reads 'Fennel Makomo'.

"Make the hallway stop moving." I say, child-like.

Fennel sighs with understanding, and tells me, "Honey, you've had a concussion take it easy for a while. I'm wheeling you down the hallway in a bed. You're moving. Now shut your eyes, I'm taking you in an elevator to a ward on the fifth floor."

I shut my eyes, and relax. Right. Hallways don't move. That should have been obvious by now. What is wrong with my head?! Oh, right. I have a concussion. I allow the nurse to wheel me into the elevator, and notice the fact that my head is throbbing. I wince, and try to get myself to sleep. It doesn't work. I feel suddenly really nauseous, and Fennel grabs the bucket from my bed side, and holds it under my chin. I obligingly vomit into it, and feel much better afterwards. Fennel hands me a cloth, and I wipe my mouth. We arrive at the fifth floor, and Fennel drops the bucket and cloth down a cleaning chute. She pushes my bed into a nearly empty ward. The only other patient in there is a girl with long curly brown hair, deep cerulean eyes, and a terrified look on her face. She wears a simple hospital gown, and has obviously been here for several days. She doesn't have a mark on her. Why is she here? Fennel wheels my bed next to this mystery girl, and goes over to talk to her. Fennel leans down, and whispers something in the girls ear. She turns and looks at me. Huh. She can't be much older than I am.

"I promise, you'll be okay." Fennel says softly to this girl, patting her on the back.

"No, I won't be." She sniffles before bursting into tears.

Fennel leaves the room, and I lean over to the crying girl. I feel like I'm in a bad mood, and I don't know what happened or how I even ended up here.

"What's _your_ problem?" I say, rather nastily to girl X in the bed besides mine.

"I'm Touko." She says, dodging my question, "and you are?"

"Shauntal. Why are you here?" I press.

"Well, I know why you're here. You have a concussion." She tells me, and my jaw drops.

Who is this Touko, and how does she know this? As if she's reading my thoughts, she brushes away the last of her tears, and says,

"Fennel told me about your concussion. She also told me you thought the hallways were moving." Touko says not unkindly, but laughs.

"Oh, really you think that's funny do you? Well, tell me your sob story princess." I snap at her.

Touko looks ready to burst into tears again, and she says, "I didn't mean to offend you, it's just, well, that was the first thing that made me smile in days."

After confessing that to me, she does in fact, burst into tears.

"Oh, did I hurt your feelings? You must have a tragic, _terrible _reason you're here then." I smirk sarcastically, taking sadistic pleasure in extracting my pent up anger and moodiness.

She glares at me, and then begins in a harder and more sharp voice than I ever thought possible from her, tells me this,

"You _want_ to hear the reason why I'm here? Well, fine. Then I'll tell you. I am here, in this hospital ward with a _lovely_ ward mate because I am pregnant." She spits at me, "I don't even know who the father of my child is."

"Slut." I tell her.

She slaps me across the face.

"I was raped by my former friend who got me drunk and raped me. And now I have to deal with some brat calling me a slut just because she has a concussion and needs to 'deal with her symptoms?!' I would like to see you get stuck in this kind of a position. I have a fiancee, but I can't even tell him about this out of fear that he will stop loving me, despite the fact that he is understanding and kind. Well, you can stop calling me princess, because if anyone here is acting like a stuck-up priss, it's you!" She screams in my face before hoping out of her bed.

Touko smoothes down her gown before hopping out of her bed and flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"Touko, wait." I call, but when she doesn't stop, I jump out of my bed to chase her.

The minute I step on the floor, I topple over sideways. I pick myself up, and totter sideways after her. I call out out her, but she just stands in the door gigging. I notice I'm not walking in a straight line, and I giggle myself. I stop in the middle of the room, and cross my arms over my chest in an attempt to look stern. I tap my foot on the floor, and she walks over to me.

"I like you." She says, to my great surprise, "You've got spunk."

She grabs my hand, and walks me back to my bed. I plop in, and watch her hop in as well.

"So, tell me more about your fiancee." I ask her.


	7. I Use the Power of the Panic Button

Chapter 7: Touko (I Use the Power of the Panic Button)

Later that day I met Shauntal, a man with dark skin and blond hair walks into our ward. When he sees Shauntal, he cries out in joy,

"Shikimi! You're okay! They wouldn't let me up to see you until now."

The man and Shauntal hug, but why did he call her Shikimi?

"Oh, I've been rude." Shauntal tells the man, seeing the puzzled look on my face. "This is my... friend, Touko White. Touko, this is my close friend, Marshal Renbu." She looks, at me, an I nod my approval.

"Pleased to meet you, Marshal." I say.

I kind of feel like a third wheel, until Shauntal asks a very curious question.

"Marshal, what happened?" Shauntal inquires.

"What do you mean?" He returns.

"Well, how did I get a concussion in the first place?" She queries.

"We were eating lunch, and you got up-" Marshal prompts.

"And I fell out of the window, but I wanted to leave because you were mocking me and my book." Shauntal says remembering, but then she gets very serious. "Marshal!"

"Hey!" he says, getting on the defensive. "It's not my fault. Caitlin made me. Oh, and uh, speaking of Caitlin, there are some people downstairs who would like to see you."

"Tell them to go away." She moans.

"Well, that might be a little hard considering they're already here." Says a tall dark-haired man.

His companion is a young blond girl with ridiculously long hair. As they enter, Shauntal shuts down completely. She just turns off. I have to get the out of here. But I am too late because the blond girl is at Shauntal's bedside.

"Shauntal, how are you?" She asks in a fake sounding voice.

"Fine, Caitlin." Shauntal says in a dead sounding voice.

So this is the infamous Caitlin Cattleya, and that must be her boyfriend, Grimsley. Caitlin walks over to me, and leans over my bed.

"Sorry you had to be cooped up in here for god knows how long with Shauntal. I'm Caitlin." She simpers.

"Well, Caitlin, I'm sorry that Shauntal had to spend most of her life cooped up with you." I tell her.

"That's rude I thought we were friends!" Caitlin hisses.

"I'm not your friend." I say loud enough for Shauntal to hear.

Caitlin backs off, and I reach over to a small orange button on my bed. I slam it. Within five minutes, Fennel arrives, and shoos out the troublesome visitors.

"How'd you do that?" Shauntal asks, amazed.

"This little thing is called the panic button. If anything irritates you, it could cause symptoms. Feel free to press it to discourage annoying visitors." I tell her.

"I will use this power with liberty." She announces.

. . .

Shauntal and I are getting released tomorrow. I can't wait to get out of this rat-hole. Even Shauntal wants to leave.

"Shauntal, I know how we could leave." I mischievously say.

"How?" She asks.

I whisper my plan in her ear.

"Hell yes we're doing that. This is a hospital. If we get hurt medical help is on the way." She agrees.

We pull all the sheets of of the empty beds and wrap them around our arms, legs, and waists. We grab pillows and duct-tape them over the blankets. I wrap one around my head as a helmet, and secure it with a strap of duct tape. I watch Shauntal do the same. We wrap ourselves until we look like marsh-mellow men. We them drag our wheelie beds out of the ward, and to the glass sliding doors that must be on every floor. We wheel the beds through the doors, and to the top of the stairs.

"Bon voyage!" I call, hopping on mine, and pushing off.

Shauntal follows me, and soon we are riding down the stairs in hospital beds like a bunch of maniacs. When we get to the fourth floor, _there are no sliding glass doors! _Fuck. I have to throw my weight to make a hairpin turn, and I crash down another flight of steps. I turn again, and I see Shauntal is safe behind me.

"I think we have to go to the first floor." She yells.

She nod her head in acknowledgment, and we careen wildly down the stairs. We get to the first floor, unharmed by a miracle, and crash out through the open doors.

"That was AWSOME!" We both scream, until I see the face of Professor Juniper glaring disapprovingly at us.

"That was _not_ awesome?" I ask.

The Professor sighs, and simply says, "I'm going to ask you both to leave the hospital."

We run to the lady's room, unwrap, and hi-five. We're going home!


	8. Forgive Not Forget

Chapter 8: Shauntal (Forgive Not Forget)

Yes! After our little stunt, Touko and I are released from the hospital a day early. Touko waltzes out of the hospital after promising to visit, and I flip open my cell-phone outside in Nimbassa City.

"Hello?" Marshal picks up on the other end.

"Marshal. Hey. I need a lift." I tell him.

I can practically feel him smile through the phone.

"Sure thing. Be there in five. Oh, would you hold on a sec?" He asks nicely.

"Sure." I say.

He must put the phone down on a desk because everything becomes really muffled. I hear yelling, and the conversation goes something like this.

"Yes, I think it's a good idea. No, I'm not going to just leave her there. We'll talk when I get back, okay, Caitlin." Marshal yells to the person in another room. "Hey, back. Sorry. I'll be there soon."

"K." I answer, and click the 'end call' button on my cell-phone.

It goes black, and I use it as a mirror. I flip my hair, and notice a small, red line flash beneath my long, dark, purple bangs. Mother fuck! I push my bangs up onto my head and hold them there. Underneath them, well concealed, is a thin, puckering red scar. I allow my bangs to flop back down, and I arrange them to conceal my scar. I sulk on the wall of the hospital until Marshal arrives on the back of a Sigilyph.

"Shauntal, hop on!" He cries.

I run over, but as I am about to climb on, Marshal orders the Sigilyph to fly out of my reach. He repeatedly taunts me until I cross my arms.

"Come on, just jump already." He taunts.

"Marshal, I should still be in the hospital, and if you don't let me get on the freaking Pokemon, and I fall jumping, I could get another concussion. You don't want me to get concussed, do you?" I ask sweetly.

He sighs, realizing the logic of this statement, and allows me to mount the Pokemon.

"I didn't know you had caught a Sigilyph." I tell him.

"It's not mine. Caitlin lent it to me." He answers.

"So, what did you black-mail her with?" I ask, hoping to catch him off-guard.

"Nothing. She lent it to me out of the goodness of her heart." He replies, shocked.

"Well, Caitlin doesn't really have a heart when it comes to me." I tell him.

"I've noticed," He solemnly says, "And I'm really sorry about the whole book spat."

"Oh, Marshal, I forgive you." I say hugging him.

"Great the others-" He starts, but I cut him off.

"I never said I forgave the other two." I grimace.

We arrive back at our building, and Marshal recalls Sigilyph to its Pokeball.

"Hey! We're back." Marshal calls out to no response.

We enter Caitlin's overly girly room, and see her and Grimsley discussing a flyer.

"And it will be _really_ fun." Caitlin begs.

"We're back." I call obnoxiously.

The look on Caitlin's face says that she would rather I get another concussion, so I just smile sweetly at her.

"Great, we were just finishing up our discussion." Grimsley says smoothly, like he wasn't gunning me down the last time he saw me.

"Oh yeah, the Halloween Howl!" Marshal cries, and does a, well, rather lame impression of a were-wolf howl.

I must look really confused because Marshal further explains,

"It's a halloween party that one of Caitlin's friends is hosting. We're all going. I'm gonna be a were-wolf, Grimsley's gonna be a vampire, and Caitlin's gonna be a devil."

"Well, that shouldn't take too much work." I say candidly.

Caitlin ignores me, and speaks anyways.

"So, we're all going to have to get costumes really, really soon." She bubbles.

The discussion disbands, and I turn to leave. I know exactly what I'm going to be. I'm going to be an angel. As I turn to leave, Grimsley grabs my shoulder. I stiffly turn to face him.

"Shauntal, I'm really sorry-" He tries to say before I interject,

"Save it." I hiss, and storm off.

I love him, but I hate him, and he _definitely _has something to prove.


	9. I Become a Pomegranate

Chapter 9: Touko (I Become a Pomegranate)

Shauntal agreed to meet me in Nimbassa City because we both felt like we could use some time away from the insanity of our daily lives. We meet up in the amusement park, and we decide to ride the ferris wheel.

"Did you know that N and I had our first un-official date on this ferris wheel?" I ask Shauntal.

"Really? That's so romantic. Do you mind if I use that in a novel I'm writing?" She asks zealously.

I smile, and tell her, "Of course!"

For the remaining ride, we look at the spectacular view of Nimbassa, and if I strain my eyes, I can see all the way out to the hazy silhouette of the Marvelous Bridge. I sigh, and think about how much less complicated my life was before Cheren. The ride stops, and Shauntal has to shake me twice for me to realize it. We get off, and run into a worked up Elesa.

"Perfect. You two are perfect. Come with me. We still have time! Make this work." She mumbles, grabbing our arms and dragging us into a row of gray tents.

"Where are you taking us?" Shauntal inquires nervously.

Elesa stops, realizing that she didn't explain anything to us, and asks,

"I need you two to model in a fashion show with me. We're short two models. Could you do it for a friend. Please?" Elesa begs.

"Sure." Shauntal automatically responds.

"I'll do it but I don't know if you want me to model because, surprise! I'm having a baby! Well, probably not, although I'm not quite certain yet, I dunno... well it's complicated." I tell Elesa, who looks like she only understood the 'I'll do it'.

"Great!" She drags us into a tent, hands us card, and pushes us into a make-up tent. "Here are the last two models. Sorry they're last minute. Lets just rush here. Chop chop." Elesa orders.

The two make-up artists coat our faces with make up, I get blood red lipstick, and red dots of eyeshadow all around my blue eyes. They swish on mascara, and emphasize my eyes using eyeliner. Elesa hands me a red dress once I'm done, and I slide it on, and zip it tightly feeling like everyone will stare at my abdomen. I meet Shauntal and tell her,

"Wow. You look amazing."

"Thanks. I'm a lemon, what are you?" She asks.

"What, how do you know that you're a lemon?" I inquire.

"Look at your card." She tells me.

I check the card, and it says 'pomegranate' on it. Suddenly, Elesa barges into the tent.

"Places, everyone to the runway!" She calls, dragging us to our places in the line.

I look at the other models, and note that they're all fruit too. Elesa is a grape, one is a star-fruit, and others are fruits so exotic, I've never heard of them. Elesa gets on the runway, and the applause starts. I am noticing how Shauntal's yellow make-up complements her now professionally waved purple hair, when I realize I'm up next!

"Think-like-a-pomegranate-think-like-a-pomegranate-think-like-a-pomegranate." I repeat in my head multiple times before stepping out and striking a pose on the runway.

I step out and begin to walk down the runway. It has a light blue floor, and millions of flooding lights. I am nearly blinded, and the runway seems miles long. I feel like everyone is staring at my abdomen, and it is all I can do to keep on walking. I finally reach the end of the runway, strike a pose, and amazingly, everyone cheers. Maybe I'm just over-reacting. I start to relax, and I enjoy it more. I reach the runway exit, and I dash off. Shauntal is right behind be in line, and when she gets off two, we squeal together. We remove our make-up, and return the clothes. Elesa catches us on the way out and tells us,

"Hey, guys, thank you so much. To express my gratitude, I want to give you a piece of our Egyptian Jewelry collection."

I ry to protest, but Elesa won't take no for an answer. I select a thin, gold chain with an ankh dangling on the end, and slip it over my head. Shauntal takes a golden snake head-piece that wraps around the circumference of her petite head, and puts it on. I am admiring the jewelry, when I hear the words 'beauty tips' come up in Shauntal an Elesa's conversation. We leave, and Shauntal confesses to me that she wanted some simple beauty tips. We depart, and I finger my ankh before deciding to go home.


	10. I Get Attacked by Elesa Fangirls

Chapter 10: Shauntal (I Get Attacked by Elesa Fangirls)

After Touko and I went our separate ways, I hopped on Drifblim, and was ready to return to the hell-hole I called home, when a group of Pokemon Rangers approached me.

"Oh My Arceus! I that a piece of Elesa's exclusive jewelry collection! It's not even in stores yet. How did you get it?" One squeals.

"Uh, I know Elesa personally?" I say, it coming out more as a question versus an answer.

"You have to introduce me to her, we're all total fangirls here! Wait," The ranger says, recognizing me, "You're Shauntal. From the Elite Four! I have to introduce you to my friends hold on a sec." The girl squeals, and runs off to get her friends.

Now, I've always had pretty good instincts, and right now they're screaming at me to 'GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE'! I hop on Drifblim, and I tell him,

"Home, now! As fast as you can!"

Drifblim speeds off, and just in time as well. Suddenly the hell-hole of my home life doesn't look so bad to me.

. . .

I arrive home, recall Drifblim to his Pokeball, and pray that none of the ranger girls had Pokemon to fly after me with. I run inside, and pull the iron gate up behind me. After a few minutes with no crazy, screaming fangirls, I decide they didn't follow me. I lift the head-piece, almost a tiara, off of my head, and admire it. It's really awesome, it's a metal cobra that coils around, and kind of wacky. Just like me! I decide that I love it. I slide it onto my temples again, and feel like queen of the nile. I think of Elesa's beauty tips, and dash up the steps to my room. I pull on a pair of skinny jeans that Caitlin gave me for my birthday, but I never wore. I slide off my purple tunic, and pull off my crown. I pull on a simple purple tank top that hugs my body, and replace my crown. I put my discarded clothes into my closet, and look at myself in the mirror. I look... different. Different, but I like it. I go to a desk draw that I haven't opened in years, and pull the handle. The draw slides open with ease, and I remove a small, blue and white case marked L and R. I put the case on my desk, and shut the draw. I'm not ready for my old contacts yet, I still like my round geeky glasses, but someday I will use them again. I plop back into my chair, sigh and relax just as I hear a pounding on my door.

**Grimsley's P.O.V.**

I rapped on Shauntal's door, hoping she wasn't still out galavanting in Nimbassa City with her, well, rather moody friend Miss Touko.

"Door's open." I hear her call out.

Good. I have to apologize whether she wants to hear it or not. It was a silly dare anyway, and I feel awful. I walk into her room, and see her sitting at her desk in front of a rather large window. Sunlight streams in through the window and makes Shauntal's purple hair glisten. She looks really nice in a simple ensemble, a tight purple tank top, and blue skinny jeans with a regal metal snake wrapped around her head. In fact, she looks absolutely gorgeous, and I can't help but notice every detail of her existence right now. I must be staring at her like an idiot, for she stands up and taps her foot on the ground, irritated.

"Well? Have you got something to say, or are you just going to stand there?" She says, vexed.

I want to tell her that I'm sorry, and give her back her book, but I can't stop watching the way her hair bounces when she stands. I stammer several times before being able to form coherent words.

"I-I want to give this back to you and tell you that I'm deeply sorry." I manage to stutter.

She just rolls her gorgeous violet eyes and snatches the book from my outstretched hand.

"Sure you are." She says sardonically, "And I'd like to believe that you actually care, not just feel bad because I had a concussion."

I try to tell her that I really do feel bad, but she has already escorted me out of the room, and slammed the door in my face. What just happened?


	11. Confessions

Chapter 11: Touko (Confessions)

I slowly push open the door, holding so tightly onto the chain of my new necklace, I'm worried I'll snap it. I hate what I have to do, but when I was changing out of my red dress, I saw a tiny bump in my stomach. If I don't tell N, he'll find out soon when that bump gets larger. All I can do is pray, and hope that the baby is his. There's definitely a bump, and it's just going to get larger. I planned to be cool, calm, and collected the whole time I was telling him but the minute I stand in-front of the door to his room, I break down crying and start banging loudly on the door.

"N! N! Come here now! I have something I need to tell you!" I screech through my tears.

N, greatly alarmed, opens the door, and sees me hysterical.

"Arceus, what happened, Touko?" He cries, scooping me into his arms.

"Get Cheren. He needs to hear this too." I sniffle.

N sprints out of the house, and I think the whole town can hear him banging on Cheren's door, yelling for him to 'get over here right now'. In less than two minutes, N is back with Cheren. Cheren, alarmed at my appearance, come over to try to comfort me, but I slap his hand away and yell,

"Don't _ever_ touch me again!" In his face.

"Now, what did you need to desperately tell us, Touko, darling?" N asks calmly.

I sniffle twice before spitting out the dreadful words.

"I'm pregnant." I scream, the clap my hands over my mouth, and begin to sob hysterically.

Cheren's jaw drops open, and he begins to hyperventilate as he understands the full horror of this situation.

"OhmyArceus, OhmyArceus, OhmyArceus, I need to sit down." He says, collapsing into a chair.

N just smiles, not getting it, and tells me "That's great news, Touko, but why did he have to be here?" N asks curiously.

"Why don't _you_ explain to my fiancee, Cheren?" I say cold as ice.

"Must I?" Cheren asks miserably.

"Yes, you do. You're the one who FUCKING RAPED ME!" I scream, unhinged.

"He RAPED you?" N cries. "Touko, why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I didn't want anyone to know." I sob.

N puts his arm around me.

I love you baby. It's going to be okay." N soothes me.

Even though I am relived that he still loves me, I cry despondently, "No, it won't be."

"So," Cheren begins a little awkwardly and asks the question eating us all, "Who's umm... the, you know, father?"

I shrug.

"Touko, if I'm the father of your child, will you marry me?" Cheren cries excitedly.

I walk up to him, and slap him.

"If _you_ are the father of this kid, I'm fucking having an abortion." I tell a hurt Cheren. "Now, get the fuck out of my house." I yell.

Cheren runs out. Well, that feels better. Clear air now. Oh no! I suddenly remember promising Shauntal to go to the halloween howl, and bring her more feathers for her costume. Mine is ready, but she made hers.

"N, sorry, but I forgot to tell you. I need to go to this dance with a friend, so I'll be gone tonight. Sorry." I tell him.

"It's fine. I have business to attend to." N says, and I wonder if this business involves physical harm to Cheren.

I sure hope so. I dash out of the house, in search of feathers.

. . .

After about ten minutes, I free Rufflet, and fly over to Shauntal's place. I hop over, and see a dark haired man walking about in the plaza he sees me and runs over.

"Oh, you must be a challenger. We have a challenger places everyone places." He alerts.

"I'm not a challenger!" I scream over him, "I'm just here to see Shauntal." I cry exasperated.

"False alarm. Not a challenger." He calls again. "I'm sorry. Who did you say you were here to see?"

"Shauntal Shikimi." I repeat.

His eyes light up at the mention of her name, and he grabs my arm.

"I'll escort you to her room." He says, attempting to sound dignified.

He leads me up a flight of stairs, to a wooden door. He raps on it and calls,

"Shauntal, there's someone here to see you."

She opens the door a crack, peeks through, opens it wider, and grabs my arm. She pulls me in her room, and slams the door. I see a beautiful whit gown with a pair of feathered wings emerging from the back.

"Have you got the feathers?" She asks.

I pull a bundle of feathers from my bag and hand them to her.

"I got into a bit of a fight with a Swanna, but here they are." I smile, pushing back a patch of my hair to reveal a scratch.

Shauntal hugs me really tightly.

"Shauntal, baby in stomach!" I tell her, and she lets go. "I have to go put on my costume and make-up now." I tell her, and I hop onto Rufflet and leave for a much calmer home.


	12. I Dance With the Undead

Chapter 12: Shauntal (I Dance With the Undead)

I slide off my glasses and put on my new contact lenses before I add the last feather Touko brought me to my left angel wing.

"Perfect!" I exclaim, slipping on the costume, and completing it with my golden snake head-piece.

I look in the mirror admiring the white gown, the beautifully sculpted wings, as cynical Caitlin walks in, dressed like a hooker devil. She is wearing red booty-shorts, a pair of ebony devil horns, a red crop top, and has a black tail coming out of the shorts.

"Wow. That's what your wearing?" She says disapprovingly, "Well, I guess it fits. Angel, goody two-shoes, frigid little bitch. All the same category."

"You do know that halloween parties aren't exactly a place to get hooked, right?" I ask concerned. "If you want to be a hooker, you need to break-up with your BF."

"As if." She waves the question away, "We have enough sex to make up for everything." she says, and turns to exit. Before she leaves, she turns back to say, "Enjoy the party."

I hear the door slam, and I hear the sound of something heavy being moved against it. I make out Caitlin's insidious giggle, and I immediately start pounding on the door for help.

"Marshal, Grimsley, anyone. HELP!" I cry, knocking loudly.

Nothing. I try opening the door, but it won't budge an inch. I sigh, and am about to flop down on my bed in defeat, condemned to a night of staying in, a little voice in my head yells,

"Duh, Shauntal. You have Pokemon, remember?"

Of course! I pop open Drifblim's Pokeball, grab my purse, and climb out onto the windowsill.

"I may not be able to fly with these wings, little guy, but you can. To Nimbassa City. I'm going clubbing." I order.

Drifblim smiles, and I hop onto his back as we drift over quickly to Nimbassa.

. . .

I walk into the club, and the first thing I think is, "Right. I remember why I don't go to clubs."

I look around, and through the smoke and strobe lights, I see people dressed up as monsters, Pokemon, or mythical creatures. Yep. I fit right in here. Caitlin looks around, sees me, glares at me, and then rushes over.

"Oh, Shauntal! You're here! I'm so glad you made it!" She says in a fake sounding, overly sweet voice.

She's probably just trying to put on a show for Grimsley, who seems to be staring right at me. His vampire costume fits his personality perfectly. A handsome dashing gentleman, but cruel as well. Gah! I just don't know how I feel.

"I'm gonna go check this." I say, indicating my purse, trying to find a way out of this situation.

But, I have a bad feeling about Caitlin anyway, so I slip my Drifblim out of my purse, and slide the Pokeball into a hidden pocket. I check the purse, and put my claim in my pocket for safe keeping. I walk over to a table, and take a seat. I plop my head down on the table, and a big, furry Marshal the Werewolf walks over to me.

"Hey baby." He begins. He always calls me baby as a nick name. "What's got you down tonight?"

I smile weakly, and say, child-like, "The strobe lights are giving me a head-ache."

"That used to happen to me when I went clubbing. You get used to it." He comforts me, looking over his shoulder. "I gotta go, Caitlin's calling me. Enjoy the rest of the night."

As he rushes off, I decide to try to enjoy the rest of the night. I walk up to the bar, and notice the stereo is pumping a loud sappy song by Adele. It's so loud, I can barely hear the waiter.

_But I set fire to the rain  
Watched it pour as I touched your face  
Let it burn while I cry  
'Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name_

"Miss, Miss!" The waiter calls.

"Oh!" I turn around just hearing his cry. "What?"

"What would you like to drink? Miss?" He inquires.

Oops. I guess I hadn't really thought about what I wanted.

"I guess I'll have a grape juice." I tell him.

The waiter looks puzzled at my request, but obediently pours grape juice into a martini glass, and pushes an olive onto the rim. He hands it to me, but not before adding,

"And may I say you look ravishing tonight."

I smile at him. I usually don't get compliments from people. I take my dark purple juice, and head over to a table. As I plop down and take a seat, the song changes. Now they are blasting a song by One Direction, that boy band Caitlin is _obsessed_ with. I put my glass down on the table, and watch as the blasting music vibrates the table, causing little ripples to spread across the top of my glass. I am about to take a sip of the violet liquid, when a soft voice behind me cries,

"Boo!"

"Ack!" I scream, doing a spazz, and almost spilling my juice.

I sharply turn my head, and see a dark haired man wearing a long vampire cape.

"Grimsley?" I scream.

He plops down next to me, and there is an awkward silence, the music seeming to blast louder.

_You're insecure  
Don't know what for  
You're turning heads when you walk through the door  
Don't need make up  
To cover up  
Being the way that you are is enough_

Grimsley clears his throat, and I realize I must have spaced-out.

"Oh, sorry what?" I ask.

"I was just saying that I must be in heaven because I am looking at an angel." He says, trying the cheesiest pick-up line I've ever heard.

"So..." He continues, trying to fill the silence.

"So..." I continue.

"What are you drinking? I never thought you were the type to drink wine, pardon my saying so." He remarks, indicating my glass.

"Oh, no, this is grape juice." I curtly respond.

"Why?" he asks with sudden interest in my habits.

"Because it's purple."

"No, I mean why not wine? You are legal age." He curiously pries.

"I don't go clubbing, I don't get drunk, I don't do things I will regret later, like hitting on someone while I have a girlfriend." I stare him down.

"But I'm not drunk," He says, confused.

"Then you're insane." I answer.

"Well, in that case, I have work to do." He mutters turning away.

Suddenly, an obnoxious high-pitched voice echoes over the loud music. I don't know how Caitlin manages to be heard over this intensely loud music.

"Grimsley!" Caitlin screeches.

"Gotta go." Grimsley grimaces. "See you soon."

I sigh, and finally drink my grape juice. I hear the same song playing on repeat, Caitlin or someone else probably requested it.

_Baby you light up my world like nobody else  
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed  
But when you smile at the ground it aint hard to tell  
You don't know  
Oh Oh  
You don't know you're beautiful  
_

I see Grimsley turn, looks at me, and wink. He then turns back to Caitlin. I look away, and finish my drink. I pop the olive into my mouth, and spit the pit into my cup. I go into full-tilt this is boring mode.

_If only you saw what I can see  
You'll understand why I want you so desperately  
Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe  
You don't know  
Oh oh  
You don't know you're beautiful  
Oh oh  
That's what makes you beautiful_

While dozing off, I remember that I snuck out of my room to be here. Damn it, I'm going to have fun tonight! I walk up to Marshal at the food bar, and grab his hand.

"Marshal, lets dance!" I say zealously.

"Okay." He agrees.

He sweeps me onto the dance floor, and we start to sway to the beat. I see Grimsley staring at me, and he looks kind of jealous. I get into the music, but then I remember Touko was going to meet me here. She probably thought I stood her up! Oh crap!

"Marshal, I gotta go. I have to find a friend." I say, panicked.

"Okay, go." He says releasing me.

I rush madly around the room searching for my friend who is wearing god knows what costume. I finally run into her at the sushi bar. She is wearing a dark grey ripped-up dress covered with dirt, and has her hair sprayed half- grey. She made her face white with make-up, and his a line of lipstick going down from her mouth that looks a lot like blood.

"Touko!" I cry.

"Shauntal!" She exclaims before crushing me in a hug.

"Can't breathe." I choke out.

"Sorry. This has been super boring." She says, allowing me to breathe.

"I know, right? Hey, since I found you, wanna dance?" I inquire.

"Arceus, yes!" She cries dragging me onto the dance floor. "Ooh, I love this song! It's my favorite!"

They are playing 'Just Dance' by Lady Gaga, and I love this song as well. Touko and I start dancing around like maniacs, preforming cheesy dance moves with out hesitation.

_What's going on on the floor?  
I love this record baby, but I can't see straight anymore.  
Keep it cool what's the name of this club?  
I can't remember but it's alright, alright._  
_Just dance_

We dance until the song ends, but I don't know or like the next one they play. Touko must not either, because she leads me off the dance floor, and we sit and talk.

"I feel like I can't _do_ anything because I'm worried about... that thing in me. You know?"

"Yeah, but I'm really glad you made it all the same. Hey does anyone know about, umm that thing but me?" I ask, really hoping to Arceus that she told someone.

"Yeah, my fiancee and my rapist know. Oh, and I _am_ getting a restraining order, so it's all good."

"Great. I'm glad more people know. It's a really heavy burden to carry." I say sympathetically.

"Yeah, Oh My Arceus, look at the time. It's eleven forty-five! I'm gonna leave now, and you can join me if you want." She says before disappearing.

I decide to stay, and dance a little more, but then I go to the coat claim to get my purse. The man tells me that someone else claimed it already as theirs. Fuck. Oh well, I know who has it, and I don't need anything in it. I go up to Caitlin who is by herself crying, and tap her on the shoulder gently.

"Caitlin, could I have my purse back?" I ask.

In response, she throws it into my hands, and slaps me across the face. I feel the spot her hand made contact, and can tell there will be a mark on my cheek. I stagger out of the place, and decide just to go home. I don't need anything else to go wrong tonight.


	13. I Take the Plunge

Chapter 13: Touko (I Take the Plunge)

The next morning, I get a call from Professor Juniper on my X-transceiver.

"Hi." I pick up.

"Touko, I need you in the lab now." She tells me. "There's a genetics test we could preform that would tell you who the father of your child is. You would get the results in a week and a half." She bubbles as my heart drops.

"That's too late for me to have a non-surgical abortion, isn't it?" I ask.

"Well, I suppose it would be." Juniper admits.

"I'll do it." I say. "I'm on my way now."  
I grab Rufflet's Pokeball and head out the door. Funny how I seem to spend most of my time in Nimbassa, isn't it? I land, jump off Rufflet's back, and I run into the hospital at full tilt. I crash into Professor Juniper who tumbles backwards. I pull her up.

"My, Touko, you got here fast!" She cries, dusting her wrinkled lab coat off.

"Sorry, I just really want to take the test." I mention.

"Ah, yes, the test. Now, in your case, Touko, if you are displeased with the results, we could preform a surgical abortion, although it would be messy and long."

"Thank you." I tell her, as she leads me in to a sterile room .

She gives me a hospital gown which I change into, and she tells me to lay on the table. She slides a clear, plastic mask over my nose and mouth, while hooking the tube up to a machine. Gas flows freely into the mask, causing the world to swim in front of my eyes.

The last thing I hear is Professor Juniper's steady voice telling me,

"Just breathe deeply." Before I shut my eyes and the world fades into black nothing.

. . .

"Touko? Touko? It's done. Touko? Are you awake?" A soft voice asks me.

"Yeah." I say, but it comes out like garbled mush.

"Just relax." The female voice tells me again.

Instead of listening, I sit up and rub my head. I see Fennel place a small glass vial in a wrack on a white hospital cart.

"What time is it?" I ask, feeling out of it.

"Four-thirty." Fennel tells me.

Arceus! Why didn't she wake me up sooner? Oh, right. I was gassed. I hop off of the table, and stumble over to my clothes. I pull them on, and shed my gown. I have to get to a lawyer before the day closes. I have some business to take care of.

. . .

"So, let me get this straight." My lawyer tells me. "You want to restrain the man who may be the father of your child?"

"He sexually abused me!" I cry.

Here I am in family court, as a minor, trying to get a restraining order, and my lawyer is refusing to _cooperate_?! He must understand how dangerous the look on my face is, because he informs me,

"I will write you one, but are you absolutely _positive_ this is what you want?"

"Yes!" I say for the fifteenth time in half an hour.

"Okay. A restraining order for?" he asks, scribbling down on a legal pad.

"Nine months." I say impulsive.

I do not want him anywhere near the baby. My lawyer scribbles down dates and times on his legal pad, rips off a slip of paper, and hands it to me.

"Here you go, don't _ever_ lose this." My lawyer emphasizes, handing me the slip of paper that will keep Cheren at least five hundred steps away from me.

I don't even bother to say thank you, I just rush home, and rip the back off of an old picture frame. I pull out the image, and instead, frame the order to insure I won't lose it. I do this none too soon, for I hear Cheren's annoying voice calling out for the last time,

"Touko, I said I was sorry."

I walk over to the window holding the picture frame, and call down to him,

"Cheren, do you see what I'm holding in my hand?"

"Yeah, why?" He responds.

"This is a _legal_ restraining order which I have just received, and you are in strict violation of. You must remain five hundred steps away from me for nine months so lets see, I'm counting to five, then I'm calling the cops." I tell him.

I must look serious, for Cheren sprints back to his house. I really hope that I made the right decision with this genetics test. I hope I didn't gamble and lose.


	14. I Get Hit On By an Idiot

Chapter 14: Shauntal ( I Get Hit On By an Idiot )

After my friends returned home from the 'Halloween Howl' (Which was considerably later than I did) Caitlin proceeded to lock herself in her room and bawl like she was never going to end. Even though she had been a complete bitch to me, I still felt bad for her. I, still unsure of my decision, walked to Caitlin's room, and knocked loudly on the door.

"Who is it?" She calls miserably.

"Shauntal. Please let me in." I ask.

"Go away." She moans, and head a soft thud, the sound of her pillow hitting the door.

"Caitlin, if you don't open this door, I swear I will have Chandelure burn it to the ground." I threaten. Nothing happens. "Oh, screw it, I'm going back to sleep." I say loudly.

Caitlin opens the door, and pulls me inside. She is a complete wreck, her pink and white night nightgown is stained with tears, mascara and eyeliner stream down her face in rivers of black. I pick up the pillow off the floor, notice the black make-up stains on it, and hand it to her. She doesn't even bother going back to her princess style bed, she just plops down on the floor.

"You look awful." She flatly tells me, referring to my wrinkled plaid purple pajama pants, and my light lavender shirt ruffled shirt.

I'm positive that my hair is tangled too, and I have my glasses on instead of contacts, but I just smile, sit next to her, and ruffle her hair.

"Have you looked in the mirror since you got home?" I ask not unkindly.

"No." She sniffles.

"I didn't think so." I tell her, not wanting to upset her with her appearance. "What happened?"

"Grimsley broke up with me. He said 'I jut don't think that this is working out for us'. I'm not stupid, I can read between the lines. He just wants to be with someone else. I think that someone is you, Shauntal." She says, and slaps me, a loose cannon. "But, you know what they say. Life's a bitch. No, wait. That's you."

I just sigh, and rub my cheek, knowing she's right. What I don't expect her to do is what she decides to do next; bawl violently into my shoulder. I pat her head a little awkwardly, and offer,

"If it makes you feel better I could not date him for now."

"You'd do that for me?" She asks.

"Well, I'll admit, not just for you, there's my dignity too, but yes, I would do that."

"What do you mean, 'your dignity'?" She repeatedly queries.

"I mean, Grimsley can be an asshole sometimes." I tell her.

"That's so true. Thanks." She smiles, getting up, a signal for me to leave.

"Caitlin, you might wanna go to the bathroom." I suggest leaving the room.

I go up into my room and am brushing my hair.

"Three, two," I count down to myself.

Right on cue, Caitlin screeches. I guess she didn't find her mascara-covered appearance as humorous as I did. I chuckle to myself, imagining her frantically scrubbing her face, trying to remove the make-up. I run the brush through my hair several more times and I've gotten it smoothed down when I hear a knocking on my door. I open it, and reveal Grimsley. If he hits on me right now, my only intention is to shoot him down, both guns blazing.

"Hello, Shauntal. I was thinking that since you are a writer, you might find it amusing that I was thinking about the alphabet." He smiles slyly.

I have a feeling this might go down the line of him hitting on me, so I keep my guard up. _Way_ up.

"Yeah." I tell him, not really urging him to continue.

"And I was thinking that if I could re-arrange the alphabet, I'd put 'U' and 'I' together." He smiles broadly.

"Really?" I say, fake smiling, "Well, if I could re-arrange the alphabet I'd put 'F' and 'U' together."

Then I shut the door in his face.

"How does it feel now that the positions are reversed?" I ask the air. "Not great, I assume. Well, take the backseat, Grimsley. It's my turn to drive this romance bandwagon."


	15. Eternity

Chapter 15: Touko (Eternity)

Today's the day I'm marrying N! I'm super relieved that he still wants to marry me after all this. The wedding's not much, but all we really need is a preacher and several rows of folding chairs. We are in our back yard setting up folding chairs, and I am on the phone hiring a preacher.

"Yes, I need you to come in an hour. No, this isn't a shotgun wedding." I explain, fuming.

Why does everyone always think this is a shotgun wedding? Rufflet lands on the fence, bearing news of the guests. I open the bag I sent with him, and thumb through the pages.

"N, the Elite Four are coming, so are Touya and Bianca, and _not _Cheren." I tell him, happy that everyone could make it.

I set up the last chair and check my watch. One hour until the wedding. N must read my mind because he tells me,

"One hour until eternity, my love."

I nod mutely. "I should see what I have to wear." I tell him, realizing I never though of that.

"Of course." He tells me, allowing me to depart to my room.

I search through my closet looking for something preferably white, but able to withstand this breezy, autumn weather. I finally settle on a white halter dress with a purple sash and purple embroidery along the hem. I wiggle into it, it's getting tight around my stomach. Yikes. I look in the mirror, thankfully my bump isn't visible. I brush out my long, wavy chocolate colored hair, and think about how to wear it. I end up not having to decide, because an early Bianca barges into my room announcing that she wants to help me prepare.

"I love your dress, Touko, but what are you going to do with your hair?" She asks.

I shrug my shoulders, and her eyes widen, shocked at the lack of preparation on my part.

"Well, I came prepared." Bianca announces, pulling out a bag.

She pulls combs, brushes, bobby pins, and various other hair supplies out of her bag.

"Where's N?" I ask.

"Don't worry, Touya's helping him prepare." Bianca announces authoritatively, assuming I care or place deep importance on the fact that Touya is helping N.

I feel Bianca tugging and pulling at my hair for what seems like eternity, but is only probably twenty minutes.

"Done." Bianca announces proudly as I admire the results in the mirror she places in my hands.

Belles has pulled my hair half up into a woven bun so the other half spills down my neck. I love it.

"Belles, you are the bestest friend I have. I love you." I cry, crushing her in an embrace.

"Ow, Touko, ribs!" Bianca cries panicked.

I release her, and turn to leave.

"Touko, where are you going?" She wants to know.

"To the garden, I need to get something." I tell her, as she anxiously watches from the window.

I go over to the apple tree in our yard, and pluck ten white-pink blossoms from its branches, stem and all. I return to my room, and weave them into my hair in a circle around my bun. Perfect. I look at the clock. Ten minutes to the wedding. Aah! I hear a knock on the door, and peer out the window for the third time today. I see the preacher rapping on our door, and I run down to answer.

"Hi. Glad you could come on such short notice. I'm Touko White."

"The bride?" The preacher asks, looking me up and down.

"Yep, and the wedding's going to be outside in the backyard. It'll start in about seven minutes, so if you need to set up anything, now's the time to do it." I cheerfully tell him.

As he turns to set up his stand, I can hear him mutter "Well, this isn't going to be a very traditional wedding." Under his breath.

Soon, the guests arrive, and Bianca lets them in. everyone is here, and Bianca is assisting me with one minute to start the wedding.

"Do I look okay?" I ask paranoid.

"Touko, you're beautiful. I have to take my seat though." Bianca tells me, giving my dress a final tug before departing.

When she seats herself, I begin to walk down the aisle, keeping time with my own heartbeat.

I reach the end of the aisle, and step into the waiting arms of N.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today, on this happy and joyous occasion, to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony." The minister begins, giving a speech about the commitments of matrimony, and then moves on to the wedding vows.

"Do you, N Harmonia, take Touko White, to be your wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do you part?" The preacher asks.

"I do." N pronounces, his voice clear and melodious.

"And do you,Touko White, take N Harmonia, to be your husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do you part?" He questions me.

"I do." I say, simple and true.

"If any one can show any just cause, why they may not lawfully be joined together, let them now speak, or else hereafter for ever hold their peace." The preacher loudly announces.

I wait, nervous. Silence fills the garden. N puts a ring on my finger.

"With this ring I wed thee." He cries, looking deep into my eyes.

I put a ring on his finger, and respond, "With this ring I wed thee."

"Then, by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." The preacher declares.

N obeys, and pulls me into a long deep kiss. I begin to cry, overwhelmed by raw emotion, and when he pulls back, one of my tears is on his cheek. N and I walk back down the aisle together, and are immediately mobbed by our guests. Shauntal is hysterical, sobbing on me, and congratulating me. Touya claps N on the back. Bianca tells me that I looked wonderful.

"Well, you had a large part of that, and you were the most amazing assistant I could ever ask for." I tell Belles, which only makes her cry harder.

Eventually, everyone clears out of the house, leaving me and N with some time to ourselves. Locked together for eternity.


	16. The Challenge

Chapter 16: Shauntal (The Challenge)

"Challenger, we have a challenger! Everyone, places." Marshal calls, alerting us to places.

We usually don't get many challengers, so this is a special treat. I peek out of my room as a blue haired, male Ace-Trainer stumbles in to our building, and charges toward Marshal's room. I check my Pokemon, make sure that they are healthy, that they are ready to battle, and wait. After about ten minutes, I poke my head out again. I see the lights for Marshal's and Caitlin's rooms lit, I knew Caitlin was in no shape to battle, and I hear the noise of a fight coming from Grimsley's room. If the challenger enters my room, I must defeat him, being the last hope. I sigh, really hoping the challenger is exhausted and loses at this point, but when I hear the noises of someone climbing the staircase to my room, I know that's not the case. The challenger arrives, sweating, probably in just as bad shape as his Pokemon. He sends out an Emboar, I send out my Golurk, and the battle begins.

"Emboar, flame thrower!" He commands, and Emboar shoots a jet of flame at Golurk.

"Golurk, earthquake!" I counter, and watch the man's eyes widen as Golurk take Emboar out in one super effective attack.

He sends out a Swoobat, and I keep Golurk out on the field. Swoobat is weak to ghost type. This'll be a piece of cake.

"Golurk, earthquake." I order again, but nothing happens. Right. Swoobat is immune to ground types. "Fuck!" I curse myself. I can't make any more mistakes like that. "Sorry." I apologize to the Ace-Trainer, who probably expected me to be as proper as Grimsley and Caitlin.

"Swoobat, use psychic!" the Ace-Trainer orders.

I cringe as I hear a critical hit, and watch Golurk's HP plummet to about half.

"Golurk, use shadow punch!" I cry.

I watch with glee as the attack hits, causing the Swoobat to flip in the air, and skid into the ground. It weakly rises into the air again, little energy left to battle.

"Swoobat, use Psychic again!" He calls, hoping to take out Golurk.

"Lets finish this. Golurk, dodge, and use Shadow Punch!" I yell.

Even though Golurk isn't very fast, he somehow manages to sidestep the attack, and punch Swoobat across the face instead. Swoobat falls to the ground, unconscious. I love battling I feel so alive! I kiss Golurk, tell him

"You did great, honey." And return him to his Pokeball.

I send out Froslass, and the man sends out Krookodile.

"You can't win here. Krookodile has a type advantage over Froslass." He sneers.

"You sure about that?" I quizzically query. The man looks puzzled, but then I call out, "Froslass, blizzard!"

The ice type attack injures his Krookodile, but he commands,

"Krookodile, dig!"

I panic. I need to get in at least two more ice type attacks to knock-out his Krookodile, and now I can't attack.

"Froslass, shadow ball." I say, figuring, that if I'm going to waste an attack, it shouldn't be an effective one.

Krookodile dodges, and attacks Froslass. Froslass withstands the hit, and we counter with blizzard.

"Krookodile, foul play!" The man calls.

Froslass cries in pain and collapses on the ground, unable to battle.

"Froslass!" I cry, returning her.

This just got serious.

"Jellicent, go! Use hydro pump." I cry, unleashing a super-effective attack.

Krookodile is pounded against the wall, and faints.

"Go, my last Pokemon, Scolipede!" He cries in desperation.

I quickly pummel his Scolipede into the ground, and the man drops to his knees.

"So close." He mutter.

"Cheer up. It's not that bad. Train more, and maybe you'll get lucky. You almost beat us all the first time, think about the second." I tell him.

The man considers this, then departs. After he is gone, I detach the collar from my tunic, and fan myself. Battles get me really stressed. I wait ten minutes to cool down, then skip to the Pokemon Center to heal my Pokemon. As the nurse is healing my Pokemon, someone taps me on the shoulder. I spin around, and face, big surprise, Grimsley.

"Maybe you are the strongest out of all of us." He flirts with me.

"And don't you forget it." I tell him smiling.

He looks at my happy face, and asks me,

"Do you still have feelings for me?"

"Oh, yeah. Of course. Like anger, disappointment, and stuff like those." I say, still smiling.

"Look, Shauntal, I am sorry about the whole 'Truth or Dare' situation. I'm sorry you got a concussion. I'm really sorry about everything." He tells me, seeking forgiveness.

"Funny how I don't believe you." I tell him, my smile fading into a thin line.

The nurse taps me on the shoulder, sets my Pokeballs on the counter, and says,

"I'm just going to give you some time alone."

"Shauntal, it was a stupid dare in the first place." Grimsley claims my attention.

"Then why did you do it?" I ask. He can't find an answer, and I say, "I thought so."

I snatch my Pokeballs from the counter, and leave a frozen Grimsley in the Pokemon Center. As I leave, I hear the nurse come back and tell him,

"Girl troubles? Come here, and tell me all about it. We've got all day."

**Grimsley's P.O.V.**

After Shauntal had rejected me for the third time, I found myself in an empty Pokemon Center, telling a nurse about all my problems with Shauntal.

"And after the whole dare incident, I tried to apologize three times, but she just won't listen. I _really_ like her, and she used to like me, but she won't even talk to me now. I just don't understand. Every time I try to ask her out, she ignores me. It's like our positions have been reversed. I can't explain how I feel to her, she won't listen. She won't even let me tell her that I really _did_ like her book, and if I can't tell her that, how can I tell her that she's pretty? How can I get her to listen to me? I broke up with Caitlin because I started liking Shauntal, not because I feel sorry for her. I could never have been serious with Caitlin the way I want to be serious with her. Unfortunately, Shauntal won't even give me a chance now. She's just so strong and graceful when she battles, and she looks beautiful no matter what. The books she writes are so amazing, but I'm sure that she even thinks I take that as a joke." I tell the nurse, spilling my guts.

"Well, it looks like you have it bad, honey. Being a girl, I'm pretty sure that she still likes you, she's just worried about her dignity. I think you have to show her you're sincere first. I don't know how, but that's my advice." She answers.

"That's actually a _really_ good idea." I tell her.

"Glad I could help. By the way, my name's Joyce." She smiles.

"Pleasure to meet you Joyce." I convey warmly.

I leave to go back to my room, I know what I have to do. On the way I run into Caitlin.

"Hey Grimsley, you still like Shauntal, or have you changed your mind back?" She flirts.

"Caitlin, there was a reason I broke up with you. I don't feel that way about you any more." I simply tell her, and keep walking.

I've got a lot of work ahead of me.


	17. Answers and Decisions

Chapter 17: Touko (Answers and Decisions)

Well, it's been about a week now, and as a whole, things haven't changed much around here. Cheren is still trying to apologize, and Grimsley is no closer to getting Shauntal to date him then he was when he broke up with Caitlin. My life; however, is about to change massively. Today is the day I get the results from my genetics test. Today, I find out who the father of my child is. Professor Juniper said she'd call me when she got the results mailed back to her, and it's one-thirty, but she still hasn't called yet. I am beginning to get impatient, when I suddenly feel sick to my stomach. _Very _sick. I run to the toilet, and barely get there in time before I wretch into the toilet. When I am finished, I wipe my face with a washcloth. Morning sickness. Yuck! Suddenly I hear the phone ring. I enter my room, and pick up the phone.

"Hello?" I ask, hoping it's Professor Juniper.

"Touko, I have your test results! Come quickly!" Professor Juniper cries into the phone before hanging up.

I smile, super excited.

"N, I'm going out. I may not come home for a while because of a possible abortion." I call.

"K." He yells back.

I rush to to hospital as fast as I possibly can, and bolt through the sliding glass doors. I ignore the receptionist, and press the button for the fifth floor. I hurry to Professor Juniper's office, and she hands me an envelope wordlessly. I rip it open, and examine all the little ticks and x's on it. I scan the paper and then show it to Professor Juniper.

"What do these mean?" I ask.

To answer, she flips the sheet of paper over to the other side. I read it, and my heart drops three stories. I now have an important decision to make. Do I want to have an abortion or not. Because, the father of my baby is...

N!

I think hard about whether or not I want an abortion, because this decision will affect my life forever. The fact that this is N's baby changes everything! I rub the bump on my stomach, now affectionately, and don't want to kill it. I make up my mind, and tell the Professor,

"I want to keep it. I want to keep the baby. I want to to go home."

I run out of the hospital, and rush home to my husband, father of my child.

. . .

"Oh, you're home early, Touko. How was the abortion?" He asks, nonchalantly asks.

"N, I didn't have an abortion." I tell him.

"Then, who's the father." He asks, his curiosity peeking through.

I burst into tears, before telling him,

"N, you idiot, you are!" I cry.

HE hugs me and we both cry together.


	18. Passion

Chapter 18: Shauntal (Passion)

I waltz into my room, shut the door, and turn the key in the lock with a flourish. Alone at last. I sink down onto the floor, spread my arms and legs, and sigh happily. I haven't gotten much peace lately, what with Caitlin constantly nagging me, 'Are you going out with Grimsley yet? Do you even like him anymore?', Marshal asking to practice battle me twenty-four seven, and Grimsley chasing me around, trying to ask me out. And we mustn't forget about Touko. Now, her company would be welcome, but her and her husband, N, assumed that she would be getting an abortion for so long, they never even planned for the baby they're having. Add the fact that Cheren won't leave Touko alone, she's called the cops on him three times already, and Touko doesn't have time to call me more than once a day, which sucks. I'd actually like to hear from her. Now, what would I like to do with this time by myself? Perhaps I could finish that book I was writing. I walk over to my desk, but I see about thirty handwritten pages piled up on it. These aren't mine. I pick up the first one and begin to read.

. . .

I have reached the second-to-last page of the story, and I know who wrote this. This is my story. It is the story of a guy who was dating a sleazy girl because she was easy, pretty, and he felt like he couldn't do better. But then he met a nice, kind, quiet girl, and he began to fall in love with her. Then he did something inspired by the other girl that hurt the nice one emotionally and physically. Eventually, he couldn't take it, so he broke up with the first girl, but the girl he had fallen for wouldn't give him the time of day. I flip to the last page, and all it reads is,

"This is the beginning of our story. How it ends is up to you."

Underneath is a yellow post-it note that says,

"P.S. I never told you, but I was falling in love."

I start to cry as I stack the pages back in order. One of my tears lands on the page and blurs the pen-written words. Then I really start to sob, and I have to hold the story away from me, lest I mar the beauty of the story. I have to return it to Grimsley, but I don't want to ruin it first. A tear runs down my face, and drips onto the corner of the page. I brush it off, and stare at the wet mark. Screw precaution. I'm bringing it over right now. I take the papers, careful not to crumple them, and unlock my door. I shut it as quietly as possible, and slip out. I hear Marshal and Caitlin having a practice battle as I heavily suggested, and I sneak over to Grimsley's room, not wanting to disrupt them, or draw them out. I quickly hurry up the stairs, tiptoeing as fast as I can, and knock on the door. Grimsley must have been close, or expecting me, because the door open immediately.

"Shauntal. Hi!" He beams, then notices that I am crying. "What's wrong?"

I hand him the papers, the top page now containing numerous wet spots.

"Did I make you upset, Shauntal, I'm sorry." He tells me.

"Not upset, just happy." I sniffle.

He understands, and he pulls me inside.

"It was really sweet." I tell him.

"I'm glad you thought so." He says, shy all of a sudden. "Shauntal, I'm just going to cut to the case. I really really like you, and I would like to ask you out."

"Grimsley, of course I'll go out with you." I answer.

He takes my hand, and he kisses it. I giggle happily.

**Caitlin's P.O.V.**

Marshal and I finished our battle fairly quickly, me having the type advantage over all his Pokemon, and I began to wonder what Shauntal was doing. I had seen Grimsley drop some suspicious looking papers in her room before, and I wonder what they are. I poke my head out of my room, and see Shauntal leaving Grimsley's room. He kisses her on the hand, and she kisses his cheek. That little rat! I _will_ get revenge, but as soon as I think that, I feel my body begin to shake. I wrestle with my inner demons again, but I feel my willpower slipping.

"Shauntal, Grimsley, Marshal, anyone. Help!" I cry.

Then I completely lose it.


	19. Nine Weeks

Chapter 19: Touko (Nine Weeks)

I count the weeks off on my fingers. It's been about nine weeks! Nine! No wonder I am starting to show! I sit down on the couch, but feel my jeans dig into my more prominent baby bump. Yep. I think it's time to start getting maternity clothes. I am about to call N, who is out shopping, on my X-transceiver, when it rings. I see Shauntal's picture pop up on the screen, and I click answer.

"Hi, Shauntal." I cheerfully say.

"Touko, thank Arceus. Get me OUT of here. Make up an excuse, or whatever. Be at my place in five. Everything is going to hell! Wait, gotta go. Caitlin hasn't gotten out of hand like this in years! Bye!"

Well. That was odd. It sounds like I'm going to have to help out before I can take Shauntal maternity clothes shopping with me. I fly to the Pokemon League as fast as I can, but am stopped at the entrance by a guard.

"Miss, you can't go in there." He tells me, blocking my path.

"Shut up, and get out of my way." I tell him, shoving him backwards through the space. I then march into the building, and immediately hear lots of noise coming from Caitlin's tower. I dash up, and see Marshal and Grimsley restraining Caitlin on the bed, while Shauntal is trying to calm her down.

"Umm, what's going on here?" I ask.

Three heads turn towards me.

"Touko, you're here!" Shauntal cries.

"Yeah, I got your distress call. How can I help?" I ask.

"Well," Grimsley butts in, "Sometimes, when Caitlin gets extremely upset or angry, she has these weird snaps due to a traumatic battle experience in her past, and she just gets out of control."

"She has psychic powers, so you have to talk to her for hours or battle her to calm her down, but when she gets like this, battling is the last thing you want to do." Marshal darkly says.

If the fighting type master doesn't want to battle her, this probably isn't a good idea, but I ask anyway,

"How many Pokeballs does she have?" I question Shauntal.

"Just one. Her Reuniclus." Shauntal tells me.

"Let her go. I'll battle her one-on-one. You said that would calm her down, right?" I ask.

"Touko, it's not safe, but if you want to." Shauntal tells me, troubled.

Suddenly Caitlin's arms flare out, and and unseen power slams Marshal and Grimsley into the walls. She flicks Shauntal out of her way by snapping her fingers.

"So, you want to battle me?" She taunts, an unknown black light glowing in her eyes. "I will crush you like a bug."

"That's how you're going to play it priss? Well, I think you could use a good Draco meteor upside the head! Serperior, go!" I cry, releasing my Pokemon of choice.

Caitlin searches for her Pokeballs, but only finding one in her pocket, she releases it, calling,

"Go, Reuniclus, use thunder."

I watch as we are locked in a cone of swirling psychic energy, and a bolt of lighting zaps Serperior. He shakes it off, unfazed.

"Serperior, leaf blade, quick!" I order, seeing we may be fighting for our lives.

"Dodge, and use psychic, Reuniclus!" Caitlin orders, impossibly.

Reuniclus, being a slow Pokemon, tries to move out of the way too slowly. Serperior whips his tail up and across Reuniclus, draining a quarter of its HP. Reuniclus counters with the scrambling, pink psychic, injuring Serperior.

"Serperior, another leaf blade!" I call, resulting in a direct hit, draining another fourth of Reuniclus' HP.

"No! Reuniclus, use focus blast!" Caitlin cries.

"Serperior! Dodge and counter with solar beam."

Serperior quickly darts to the side of the blast and absorbs light.

"Go, psychic!" Caitlin cries, the dark light in her eyes raging.

Serperior takes a critical hit, almost causing him to faint. He lets loose a green ray, which rips Reuniclus up and down several times, leaving it dizzy, disoriented, and in almost as bad shape as my Serperior.

"Now, Serperior! Finish it off with leaf blade!" I call, and watch Serperior charge, and strike Reuniclus with one last attack, as Reuniclus collapses to the floor, fainted.

"Reuniclus!" Caitlin screams, to words seeming to elongate, the light fading from her eyes.

She collapses on the floor, Grimsley and Marshal run forwards to grab her. They scoop her up, and dag her onto the bed. The three conscious Elite Four members stare at me with awe in their eyes. Suddenly, I feel _very_ sick to my stomach again.

"Shauntal, could you show me where the bathroom is?" I ask, trying to hold my stomach in.

"Sure, it's just down the stairs, to the left." She barely finishes before I am off running.

I just reach the bathroom, and get to the toilet before I am throwing up my breakfast for the fifth time this week. I clean my mouth, rinse it out, and leave.

"Shauntal, let's go. We have shopping to do!" I yell, and she leaves.

"Good. I have big news to tell you!" She tells me.

. . .

"No way! You two are dating. Ooh!" I tease Shauntal who blushes.

My X-transceiver rings, and Cheren's picture pops up.

"Is that him?" Shauntal asks, having a good idea who _he_ is.

"Yep, I need a sec." I tell Shauntal before I click the answer call button. "I thought I blocked you. What do you want now? Don't make me call the cops a _fourth_ time, Cheren!"

"No, Touko, don't! I just called to tell you that I wish there was something between us." He cries.

"Really? Me too." I say.

"Like what?" He inquires, now excited.

"A wall." I tell him before hanging up.

Shauntal and I walk to the self check out lane of the Pokemart, and I ring up the clothes I bought.

"Ugh, Touko, it's not fair." Shauntal complains, "You are buying maternity clothes, and you still look like a freaking supermodel."

"Hey, you're beautiful, so hold your head high gorgeous. People would kill to see you fall." I tell her, sincere.

We grab the bags of clothing, and walk out giggling like two old friends sharing good gossip.


	20. A Prolonged Forever

Chapter 20: Shauntal (A Prolonged Forever)

Well, its now been about four weeks since Grimsley and I started to date. Caitlin has still been sulking around the house, but has had no more outbreaks. Yet. But everything changed today, and like Touko's change, it also came in the form of a little box.

Grimsley and I were hanging out in my room, when he suddenly got down on one knee, and asked me the most important question of my life.

"Shauntal," He opens, "I have been dating you for a month now, and I feel that I deeply love you. I want to make a more serious commitment, and I want to ask you something important. Shauntal, will you marry me?"

I gaped like a fish out of water, and then began to stammer over my words.

"I, I don't know what to say." I reel from shock.

"Then say yes." He urges.

"Grimsley, I'm turning twenty-two in a month. I'm still too young t make this kind of commitment. I love you, but we could have a prolonged engagement. I want to be sure that you're sure." I say.

"I could wait forever for you." He tells me.

I put on the ring, and see Caitlin peeking through my door, her eyes bugging. Can't I have enough privacy to get proposed to? I see her start to struggle with herself, and I think,

"_Oh crap, we need to call Touko again._"

Caitlin wins, and she comes back to her senses. She smiles, and hugs me.

"I'm happy for you, Shauntal. Really, I am. I may not have been best friends with you-" She tells me, and I cut her off.

"Or social with me, or even nice." I tell her, and she dismisses it with a wave of her hand.

"Yes, yes. But I want to make up for that." She tells me, and hugs me around the waist before adding, "And besides, when you get married, you'll need a bridesmaid."

She winks at me, and dashes out of the room. I groan, and rush to call Touko.


	21. Epilogue

Chapter 21: Touko (I Can't Do It!)

A lot of time has passed. I am now about thirty-nine weeks pregnant, and boy am I huge. I keep wondering when the baby will come. I rub my large stomach, and coo. N walks into the room, and rubs my stomach.

"I wonder when she'll come. I'm sure she'll be as beautiful as her mother."

I sigh, and lie down in my bed, while N leaves to get me dinner. I flip from my side over to my back to get more comfortable and feel a small pop in my stomach. Soon after, I feel a gush of fluid, and assume it's just my bad bladder control. I moan, sit up, and hop out of bed. Still leaking, I toddle over to the bathroom. I pull down my pants, look at the dripping fluid, and shriek. N drops the dinner tray and comes rushing to my aid.

"Touko, what happened?" He asks, seriously alarmed by my outburst.

"N," I say breathing hard, "N, I think my water just broke. We need to get to the hospital."

N looks at my pants, grabs a towel, hands it to me, and grabs his Archeops. He drags me onto it, and we take off for Nimbassa City Hospital. Half way through the journey, I begin to have contractions. I begin to wordlessly scream, and N has to grab me to hold me on the Archeops. We arrive at the hospital as I have another contraction.

"We need help. Get Fennel!" N calls to a slacking hospital nurse.

The nurse looks at me, and runs inside. Fennel is out in a minute. She grabs a gurney, pulls me onto it, sweeps me inside, and calls Professor Juniper on her walkie-talkie. I don't see N, and I begin to scream.

"N. N! N!" I scream, and then I have another contraction. Fennel checks her watch.

"Yes, she's having regular contractions. Floor nine, come now!" Fennel yells before hanging up.

"N!" I scream again, and suddenly he's behind me.

"Shh. Shh. Honey, I'm right here. I've been here the whole time." He soothes me.

We arrive on the ninth floor, and Fennel pushes me into a ward with an already waiting Professor Juniper. Suddenly, the pain gets more intense, and I begin to scream louder.

"Fuck, she's approaching the second stage of labor. Fennel! Get the epidural. Now!" I hear Professor Juniper yell.

Fennel runs out of the room, and the contraction stops. I take a deep breath, and feel very winded.

"Touko, honey? How do you feel?" N asks, oblivious.

"Like someone is stabbing me in a million different places with a red hot poker-EAHHHH!" I scream, my contractions beginning again, and more rapidly.

Fennel must enter with the epidural, because I feel a pinch in my side, and the pain subsides.

. . .

It has been hours, or it feels like hours, of this intense pain. Suddenly, I didn't know this was possible, the pain gets even worse.

"AAAAH! AAAH! EIAAAH!" I scream, feeling pressure.

"I can't do this N. I CAN'T DO IT!" I scream.

I begin to shriek soundlessly again, and I start to cry, while breathing very deeply. Another contraction rocks me, and when it passes, I shout,

"Can I have more epidural?"

"That was the largest legal amount." Professor Juniper says.

I shriek again, and suddenly feel more of an urge to push. I start to have a second wind of strength, and I hear Professor Juniper telling me,

"Push!"

I obey, and push as hard as I can.

"Push!"

I push, and suddenly feel extreme pain in my back. I arch my back off the table, my spine curving upward, and let out one piercing scream.

"Push once more." Professor Juniper urges me.

"I can't. I can't!" I scream.

"Push!" She commands.

I push, with all my energy, Arceus help me, I just want my baby girl out of me. Suddenly I feel a great sense of relief, and the pain evaporates. I push for a few more minutes, and eject the placenta, and it's over. I did it! And I didn't die from pain! I am holding my girl in my arms, and I whisper one words into her ear.

"Vienna."  
I pull down her hood and look at her scalp. Tiny green fuzz is growing on her head, and I cuddle her close.

"I want to keep her." I tell Fennel. "She's mine."

I coo to my baby Vienna and rock her back and forth to keep her from crying. Soon she opens her blue eyes. Blue eyes like mine. N leans over to me, and I kiss him, thinking about our new life.


End file.
